


Cause I really hate being safe

by dragonesdepapel



Series: Smoke and Mirrors [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-08 06:05:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5486399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonesdepapel/pseuds/dragonesdepapel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You know I have a crush on you, right? I mean, I’d be a bit concerned if you hadn’t figured it out by now.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cause I really hate being safe

It was the first sunny day in what felt like ages and Alya suggested a picnic in the park. Nino and Adrien got invited too, of course. They weren’t exactly sure of how the four of them got so close, but it had started a few weeks ago, when they had had to work in a science project together. Soon shared meals and conversations between classes became the norm for them, plans for four that were previously for two.

While getting to know Adrien better made Marinette realize that there was a lot about his crush that she didn’t know, it had in no way diminished her feelings for him. She had shredded all the misconceptions she had about the boy and replaced them with actual facts about him. She probably liked him more now than ever, since she could witness his kindness firsthand.

The good thing, great thing, miraculous thing that did happen was that she finally managed to string complete sentences that actually made sense in front of him. Well, most of the time anyways. But she thought no-one would judge her if her words still failed her from time to time.

Unfortunately for her, some things, like her clumsiness, stayed the same. The group had just arrived to the park, each of them carrying way too many packages for a picnic for four, when Marinette tripped over a fallen branch. She was able to remain on her feet, but she had instinctively let go of everything she was holding.

The girl was mortified but her friends told her not to worry about it. After all, the only things that had been damaged were a pair of glasses that had rolled onto some mud. Alya’s place was the closest to the park, and she volunteered to go fetch new ones with Nino while Marinette and Adrien stayed behind and got everything ready. Marinette tried to argue that she should be the one to go with Alya. After all, she had been the one who caused the mess. The redhead wouldn’t have it though, going as far as blaming Nino for tasking her with too many bags. (They boy had agreed with Alya and had even apologized to Marinette.) Marinette had no idea what her friend was up to but she was sure that there was nothing that she could do to stop it, so she let the matter drop.

So that left Adrien, Marinette and enough food to feed a small army.

They chose a table and started unpacking before Marinette decided to break the silence.

 “You know I have a crush on you, right?” her voice as bright as sky above them.

She had to hand it to Adrien, really.  The boy just looked at her with curiosity and tilted his head to the side, waiting for her to continue. It was not _completely_ reassuring because she knew that keeping himself in check was one of his talents, but she was feeling optimistic.

“I mean, I’d be a bit concerned if you hadn’t figured it out by now” she was teasing him, something that she found herself doing with increased frequency lately.

“I... suspected it. But I didn’t want to assume” he answered carefully.  His expression shifted to something more serious then. “I’m sorry Marinette, but I don’t feel the same way about you.”

“That’s ok. I…suspected it” she replied with a reassuring smile that seemed to surprise him a little.

She gave him a minute to think things over while she started setting plates and food on the table. It was weird how in sync she felt with him sometimes, realizing even before Nino what was that he needed. She noticed him searching for something on her face, and she thought that he found it because when he talked again there was some levity that wasn’t there before.

“Then why are you telling me?”

“Because I figured you should know if you want to be my friend. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or whatever.” She was watching him carefully now, because he’d be one to sacrifice his own comfort for another person’s happiness.

She shouldn’t have worried, because he instantly let go of the piece of bread he was holding and reached for her hand.

“Marinette” he started firmly, in a no nonsense tone that was uncommon on him. “You are a great girl. You are kind and brave and intelligent. I would be a fool not to want to be your friend because of something like this.”

She didn’t even try to find the words to answer him because she knew that she would fail anyway. Instead she giave him a nod and the biggest smile he had seen on her yet. He matched it with one of his own and Marinette finally felt the knot in her stomach disappear. They were going to be alright and that was all that mattered to her.

Sure, she had been able to approach the subject in a calm and lighthearted manner (thought it had taken her days of indecision and endless pep talks from Tikki and Alya), but that didn’t mean that she hadn’t been completely terrified of losing Adrien’s friendship over this.

She bent over to grab another bag from the floor as Adrien removed the empty one from the table, so she could place the new one on its spot. It was the third one and she was starting to think that they might have packed a bit too much.

“It took me a while though. To figure it out” he clarified when she shot him a confused glance.

“Please tell me that it was before Chloé started making all those oh-so-subtle comments about my reasons for spending so much time with you.”

“I believe it took me about a week of listening to those, a pretty confusing talk with Nino and a very frightening look from Alya” he admitted.

The girl across from him didn’t even try to conceal her laugh at that and he soon joined her because, in retrospective, it was _so_ obvious.

“Wasn’t the way I trip all over my words whenever I’m around you clue enough?”

“In your defense, it’s been better lately.”

“You are right, now it’s only whenever you happen to be touching me which is even less suspicious.”

“I think I’m a pretty bad judge of character. I used to believe that you were shy” he continued, the laughter not fully gone from his voice.

 “I can’t really blame you for that one” she conceded.

“Marinette, you might have had trouble communicating with me but you are not _shy_.”

She gave him a small smile and busied herself with the some pastries. She might not be shy but she was insecure and she doubted herself in a way that she didn’t want to think about right now, when she was enjoying such a beautiful day with her friends.

“I’ll let it slide though, I know there were other things that caught your attention” she teased him without thinking and instantly regretted it. Turns out that there was downside to the ability of fulling expressing herself in front of her crush.  She could be a bit reckless sometimes, speaking without stopping to think better of it. She would need to be especially cautious because her proclivity to turn her brain off around him didn’t exactly help matters.

He looked at her questioningly and a million possible answers ran through her head. She discarded them all, sure that he would catch her lie. She wasn’t certain, but she had the feeling that whatever it was that allowed her to read him so naturally worked all the same for him. And honesty had already gotten them this far, right?

“I mean… I know that… No, I think I know…”she took a deep breath and tried again. “You like someone, right?”

“Is it that obvious?” he asked with a shy smile that sent her heart into a frenzy.

“I could say that I was just familiar with the symptoms if that makes you feel better.”

Her words didn’t tumble out of her mouth like they used to, but she knocked over a can of soda in her efforts to appear nonchalant. It rolled over the edge of the table but Adrien caught it before it reached the ground, not even bothering to look up from the plate of cupcakes he was arranging. He had chuckled at her response and she knew that she could change the topic and leave it at that. But she wasn’t going to, because that would be taking the easy way out and she had already learned that that didn’t really work for them.

“I’m sorry Adrien, that was rude. I spoke without thinking.”

“It’s ok, you just surprised me a little. I haven’t talked about it with anyone, not even Nino.” He smiled to show her that he wasn’t mad.

“Well, do you want to talk about it?” she asked. Marinette knew that he could be fairly reserved but she thought that he deserved at least a chance to open up.

“I don’t think that would be fair to you.”

“We are friends before anything else, right? I will always listen to anything you want to say, Adrien. It doesn’t have to be me though, but I’m serious, I don’t think you should keep everything to yourself.”

She was busy taking a cake out of its box, so she didn’t notice the surprised expression that he made at her words. But she did catch the warm look that he sent her after that. He took the cake and situated it in the middle of the table, admiring their work. Everything had been set and now the only thing left was to wait for their friends to return.

“She’s so bright” he started suddenly, his gaze never leaving the table. “It’s like she radiates this energy, it makes everything around her seem sharper. She’s confident too, never lets anyone tell her what to do.  Sometimes she’s a bit exasperated by me, but I know that she doesn’t really mind. She doesn’t want me to change, and she never asks for more than what I can give.”

Judging by his voice alone, one would never have guessed the feelings that betrayed his words. It was the pleasant, polite tone that embodied everything that Adrien was and everything that Chat Noir wasn’t. The same could be said for his expression as Marinette discovered when he finally looked up at her. It broke her heart a little that he felt the need to hide himself even then.

Whatever it was that Adrien expected to find in Marinette’s face, it was probably not a grin.

“Adrien, she sounds amazing!” It was like she was trying to make up for his detachment by sounding excited enough for the both of them.

Truth is, Marinette wasn’t sure how she was going to react to hearing him talk about this other person who held his affections. But she had meant what she said, she would always listen to anything he wanted to say. That was what friends were for, and that was the least she could do for him if he decided to trust her.

But then he had started talking and she found herself filled with unexpected delight. It hurt too, of course, but she had accepted that she wasn’t the one in Adrien’s heart a long time ago. She was glad that Adrien had found someone who sounded _so right_ for him. Her friend went through so much and talked so little about it, he deserved someone who accepted him for who he was. Someone who made him put down the walls that he so carefully had built.

“Yeah, she is” he said with a dreamy sigh that had Marinette mirroring him with one of her own. “She doesn’t like me in that way though” he added in a casual manner that had nothing to do with his previous detached demeanor.

“Does she know the way you feel about her?” she asked.

He answered with a nod and a knowing smirk that had Marinette looking at their conversation with new eyes.

“But that’s ok, we are friends before anything else. “

There was no doubt now, he was trying to send her a message. He was saying that he understood, that it hurt and it sucked and that he was sorry. He was telling her that he trusted her and valued her and that he’d have her for as long as she wanted to. He was conveying all that with a smile because he knew how close to pity it could come if he phrased it.

“I have a friend too” the words were out before she could stop them. She mentally scolded herself, hadn’t she _just_ decided to be more careful with what she said? “I mean. No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. Just, forget about it, ok?”

“Marinette, it’s ok. You can tell me if you want.”

“I meant that I have a friend who…um… likes me. And I don’t like him back. I was just… trying to…”she couldn’t even complete her thought. She meant to return the favor, to let him know that she understood the situation in which she had put him. But she had said the wrong thing and ruined it.

Or maybe she hadn’t because Adrien shook his head and started laughing.

“Who knew we had so much in common?”

Marinette really, _really_ needed him to stop being so nice and understanding. 

She didn’t have time to come up with a reply because she noticed Nino and Alya walking towards them. She waved and Adrien turned on his seat to look. He had a smile on his face when he faced Marinette again, but the girl thought she saw a bit of disappointment in there too.

“Wow that’s a lot of food” was the first thing that came out of Nino’s mouth once they reached the table.

“No, I don’t want to hear anything about that. I had already told you that it was too much but you three refused to listen” replied Alya, crossing her arms over her chest.

“So did you guys do anything interesting while we were gone?” asked Nino a bit too quickly to sound casual.

Marinette laughed as she scooted over the bench to make space for Alya.

“We chatted” answered Adrien with a shrug but he winked at Marinette when his friend took a seat next to him. “Now, can we please start? I’m starving.”


End file.
